NBC Launches Internal Investigation Of Misleadingly Edited Zimmerman 911 Call

[Auburn85 434]

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/nbc-launches-internal-investigation-of-misleadingly-edited-zimmerman-911-call/

NBC announced on Saturday that it would launch an internal investigation into a misleadingly edited 911 call that aired on the network which featuring George Zimmerman on the night that Trayvon Martin was shot.

The edited call which aired on NBC’s Today on March 27 featured Zimmerman talking to a 911 dispatcher. “This guy looks like he’s up to no good … he looks black,” Zimmerman said in the edited segment.

The Washington Post published an unedited transcript of how that conversation actually occurred:

Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”

Dispatcher: “OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?”

Zimmerman: “He looks black.”

MSNBC.com published a printed version of that call featuring the edited segment of Zimmerman’s conversation with the 911 dispatcher. As of this writing, MSNBC has not yet issued a retraction or apology.

The editing clearly attempts to paint Zimmerman as, at the least, racially insensitive. Why else would he volunteer that Martin appeared to be African American unsolicited? The difference between offering that assessment voluntarily and responding to a 911 dispatcher’s request for a suspect’s description should be self-evident.

By announcing an internal investigation, NBC has acknowledged the problem. The investigation may find one or several individuals who, in the zealous pursuit of ratings, momentarily forgot about the standards of journalistic ethics that should be applied to a pending criminal case which has also become a national scandal.

What the investigation is unlikely to reveal, however, is the increasingly evident appearance of an institutional proclivity to try George Zimmerman in the court of public opinion. MSNBC’s, and to a lesser extent, NBC’s viewers have responded positively to the editorial voice on the analysis of the Zimmerman case their ratings have jumped as a result of so/me of the host’s rather sensationalist coverage. That does not make it decent or right.

Now a selectively edited call that explicitly misrepresents the facts has been presented to the public as news. That’s where NBC has smartly drawn the line. Rational, unprejudiced coverage of this tragic and inflammatory event must prevail here — before the passions surrounding this case spiral beyond NBC’s, or anyone else’s, control.

[AURaptor 1,137]

How about that ?

Huh.

[Grumps 3,706]

But, why would MSNBC want Zimmerman to sound racist??????????

[AUslug 1]

The case still boils down to an armed man shot and killed an unarmed teenager.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

The case still boils down to an armed man shot and killed an unarmed teenager.

Which I don't think most people have any problem with when stated that way, if that is what the evidence turns out to show.

The problem is the media and particular organizations want the rest of the country to see white male spotted black kid and tracked and killed him due to the color of his skin.

Which is why the omission of the dispatchers question is huge imo when trying to claim this is a hate crime as these groups have been. It takes it from omg 911 I see black to 911 I see a suspicious individual.

I believe this would of played out the same way regardless of color. Think Zimmerman was paranoid, overzealous, and fed up due to recent events involving burglary in his neighborhood. Having been a victim of burglary in December myself, I can understand why he would be that way.

[Auburn85 434]

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/nbc-fires-producer-of-misleading-zimmerman-tape/

NBC Fires Producer of Misleading Zimmerman Tape

By BRIAN STELTER

NBC News has fired a producer who was involved in the production of a misleading segment about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida.

The person was fired on Thursday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the disciplinary action who declined to be identified discussing internal company matters. They also declined to name the fired producer. A spokeswoman for NBC News declined to comment.

The action came in the wake of an internal investigation by NBC News into the production of the segment, which strung together audio clips in such a way that made George Zimmerman’s shooting of Mr. Martin sound racially motivated. Ever since the Feb. 26 shooting, there has been a continuing debate about whether race was a factor in the incident.

The segment in question was shown on the “Today” show on March 27. It included audio of Mr. Zimmerman saying, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”

But Mr. Zimmerman’s comments had been taken grossly out of context by NBC. On the phone with a 911 dispatcher, he actually said of Mr. Martin, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.” Then the dispatcher asked, “O.K., and this guy — is he white, black or Hispanic?” Only then did Mr. Zimmerman say, “He looks black.”

The editing of the segment was initially noticed by NewsBusters, an arm of the Media Research Center, a conservative media monitoring group. On March 31, NBC told The Washington Post that it would investigate.

Inside NBC, there was shock that the segment had been broadcast. Citing an anonymous network executive, Reuters reported that “the ‘Today’ show’s editorial control policies — which include a script editor, senior producer oversight and in most cases legal and standards department reviews of material to be broadcast — missed the selective editing of the call.”

On April 4, the network news division said in a statement that it deeply regretted the “error made in the production process.”

“We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers,” the network said.

It did not specify what steps it would take. But one day later it dismissed a Miami-based producer who had worked at NBC for several years.

The people with direct knowledge of the firing characterized the misleading edit as a mistake, not a purposeful act.

[Auburn85 434]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/08/us-usa-florida-shooting-nbc-idUSBRE83609U20120408?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

Trayvon Martin call was "mistake, not deliberate": NBC

By Chris Francescani

(Reuters) - NBC News' decision to air an edited call from George Zimmerman to police in the moments before he shot Trayvon Martin was "a mistake and not a deliberate act to misrepresent the phone call," according to the president of the network's news division.

The edit in question, which aired on the network's flagship "Today" morning show last week, made it appear that Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted, when, in fact, the full tape reveals that the neighborhood watch captain only did so when responding to a question posed by a dispatcher.

Under growing public pressure to explain the incident, NBC News President Steve Capus provided Reuters with the fullest explanation to date of how the edited call made it on air and what the network is doing to prevent such a consequential error from happening again.

Capus confirmed a previous Reuters report that an internal network investigation had determined that a producer made the editing error, and that the network's editorial controls - including senior broadcast producer oversight, script editors and often legal and standards department reviews of sensitive material to be broadcast - simply missed the selective editing of the phone call.

Two sources at the network told Reuters the Miami-based producer of the segment had been fired on Thursday.

Capus said "several people" involved were disciplined, though he declined to specify the nature of the disciplinary actions, saying they were internal personnel matters.

Sources at the network told Reuters on Thursday that NBC News executives did not know the emergency call was misleadingly edited until news reports surfaced days later on blogs including newsbusters.org and Breitbart.com.

Those blogs, along with media critics and rival networks, have charged that the edited call has inflamed racial tensions in an already volatile situation.

Sources inside the network have told Reuters that NBC News brass interviewed more than a dozen staffers during its investigation of the matter.

As part of the investigation, the producer who edited the call was questioned extensively about motivation, and it was determined that the person had cut the video clip down to meet a maximum time requirement for the length of the segment - a common pressure in morning television - and inadvertently edited the call in a way that proved misleading.

NBC News has apologized for the incident, saying in a statement to Reuters earlier this week that there was "an editing error in the production process," but insisting the results of the internal investigation would not be announced publicly.

Capus said that the network "takes its responsibility seriously" and has undertaken rigorous efforts to formalize the editorial safeguards in place at the network. He said that NBC News' broadcast standards department, led by David McCormick, has been holding meetings with various NBC News shows, as well as the network's specialized units, which handle sometimes complicated subjects like medical or legal news.

Capus added that he also is holding meetings among the network executives to reinforce the lessons learned from the investigation into the edited call.

SHARPTON CONTROVERSY

Capus has also worked in recent days to quell both external and internal criticism over the network's coverage of the highly charged news story - most of it focused on the central role that civil rights activist and MSNBC talk show host Reverend Al Sharpton has played in the case.

Sharpton, who hosts MSNBC's "Politics Daily" and offers regular commentary on the case, has also served as an advocate for the Martin family by leading rallies demanding Zimmerman's arrest, appearing beside Martin's anguished parents, and conducting closed door meetings with prosecutors and local officials on the Martin family's behalf. A call to Sharpton for comment Saturday was not returned.

Externally, media critics including Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and a columnist for The Daily Beast, have criticized the network for allowing Sharpton to play a dual role as both activist and commentator.

"Even commentators have to abide by certain rules," Kurtz wrote last month. "And in this case, by playing both sides of the camera, Rev. Al has obliterated them."

Internally, some NBC news staffers have complained that Sharpton's unique role in the case has compounded the damage to NBC News' reputation that the edited tape caused, and contributed to an impression among its critics that the network as a whole is biased against Zimmerman, according to sources. Capus refuted that claim.

"Reverend Sharpton is a talk show host on MSNBC," Capus said. "We believe there's a distinction between the role he plays and our front line journalists who are part of NBC's news gathering and reporting. This is a large news organization that has many people involved in any number of different aspects of coverage and commentary. That's the distinction we've made as a news organization."

MSNBC chief executive Phil Griffin has defended Sharpton's dual role as well, saying that as long as the longtime civil rights activist is upfront about his advocacy activity, he would be allowed on a "case by case basis" to both participate in and comment for MSNBC on issues and stories that interest him. Griffin has credited Sharpton with turning the Martin case into a national news story.

NBC is owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.

(This story corrects paragraph 4 and 5 to change attribution of producer being fired to two sources. Capus did not confirm the producer was fired)

(Editing by Edward Tobin, Philip Barbara and Jackie Frank)

[Grumps 3,706]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/08/us-usa-florida-shooting-nbc-idUSBRE83609U20120408?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71

Trayvon Martin call was "mistake, not deliberate": NBC

By Chris Francescani

(Reuters) - NBC News' decision to air an edited call from George Zimmerman to police in the moments before he shot Trayvon Martin was "a mistake and not a deliberate act to misrepresent the phone call," according to the president of the network's news division.

The edit in question, which aired on the network's flagship "Today" morning show last week, made it appear that Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted, when, in fact, the full tape reveals that the neighborhood watch captain only did so when responding to a question posed by a dispatcher.

Under growing public pressure to explain the incident, NBC News President Steve Capus provided Reuters with the fullest explanation to date of how the edited call made it on air and what the network is doing to prevent such a consequential error from happening again.

Capus confirmed a previous Reuters report that an internal network investigation had determined that a producer made the editing error, and that the network's editorial controls - including senior broadcast producer oversight, script editors and often legal and standards department reviews of sensitive material to be broadcast - simply missed the selective editing of the phone call.

Two sources at the network told Reuters the Miami-based producer of the segment had been fired on Thursday.

Capus said "several people" involved were disciplined, though he declined to specify the nature of the disciplinary actions, saying they were internal personnel matters.

Sources at the network told Reuters on Thursday that NBC News executives did not know the emergency call was misleadingly edited until news reports surfaced days later on blogs including newsbusters.org and Breitbart.com.

Those blogs, along with media critics and rival networks, have charged that the edited call has inflamed racial tensions in an already volatile situation.

Sources inside the network have told Reuters that NBC News brass interviewed more than a dozen staffers during its investigation of the matter.

As part of the investigation, the producer who edited the call was questioned extensively about motivation, and it was determined that the person had cut the video clip down to meet a maximum time requirement for the length of the segment - a common pressure in morning television - and inadvertently edited the call in a way that proved misleading.

NBC News has apologized for the incident, saying in a statement to Reuters earlier this week that there was "an editing error in the production process," but insisting the results of the internal investigation would not be announced publicly.

Capus said that the network "takes its responsibility seriously" and has undertaken rigorous efforts to formalize the editorial safeguards in place at the network. He said that NBC News' broadcast standards department, led by David McCormick, has been holding meetings with various NBC News shows, as well as the network's specialized units, which handle sometimes complicated subjects like medical or legal news.

Capus added that he also is holding meetings among the network executives to reinforce the lessons learned from the investigation into the edited call.

SHARPTON CONTROVERSY

Capus has also worked in recent days to quell both external and internal criticism over the network's coverage of the highly charged news story - most of it focused on the central role that civil rights activist and MSNBC talk show host Reverend Al Sharpton has played in the case.

Sharpton, who hosts MSNBC's "Politics Daily" and offers regular commentary on the case, has also served as an advocate for the Martin family by leading rallies demanding Zimmerman's arrest, appearing beside Martin's anguished parents, and conducting closed door meetings with prosecutors and local officials on the Martin family's behalf. A call to Sharpton for comment Saturday was not returned.

Externally, media critics including Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and a columnist for The Daily Beast, have criticized the network for allowing Sharpton to play a dual role as both activist and commentator.

"Even commentators have to abide by certain rules," Kurtz wrote last month. "And in this case, by playing both sides of the camera, Rev. Al has obliterated them."

Internally, some NBC news staffers have complained that Sharpton's unique role in the case has compounded the damage to NBC News' reputation that the edited tape caused, and contributed to an impression among its critics that the network as a whole is biased against Zimmerman, according to sources. Capus refuted that claim.

"Reverend Sharpton is a talk show host on MSNBC," Capus said. "We believe there's a distinction between the role he plays and our front line journalists who are part of NBC's news gathering and reporting. This is a large news organization that has many people involved in any number of different aspects of coverage and commentary. That's the distinction we've made as a news organization."

MSNBC chief executive Phil Griffin has defended Sharpton's dual role as well, saying that as long as the longtime civil rights activist is upfront about his advocacy activity, he would be allowed on a "case by case basis" to both participate in and comment for MSNBC on issues and stories that interest him. Griffin has credited Sharpton with turning the Martin case into a national news story.

NBC is owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.

(This story corrects paragraph 4 and 5 to change attribution of producer being fired to two sources. Capus did not confirm the producer was fired)

(Editing by Edward Tobin, Philip Barbara and Jackie Frank)

Well, it is certainly a relief to know that NBC did not intentionally make Zimmerman sound racist! It was just an honest mistake.

[Tigermike 3,426]

The George Zimmerman 911 scandal is now being called Editgate, and NBC News is acting accordingly

Update: Anytime a scandal embarrasses liberals sufficiently, you can count on a grudging Jon Stewart admission that still finds a way to blame the people he doesn’t like. With, of course, yelling.

Use the link and read it all. Lots of links there too.